Research engineer for the MIGA gravity antenna

Le LP2N est une unité mixte de recherche rattachée à l'Institut d'Optique Graduate School (IOGS), l'Université de Bordeaux et le CNRS. Créée le 1er Janvier 2011, elle forme une des composantes de l'Institut d'Optique d'Aquitaine où formation, recherche et développement technologique cohabitent. Le LP2N concentre sa recherche sur les systèmes complexes au sein desquels l’optique et l’informatique jouent un rôle essentiel. Ses activités sont centrées autour de la nanophotonique, de la biophotonique, des ondes de matière et du traitement de l’information. Le LP2N est une jeune structure dynamique déjà plusieurs fois récompensée et impliquée dans des projets d'envergure à l'échelle nationale et internationale.

The MIGA project aims to build the first underground gravitational antenna based on matter-wave interferometry. The experiment is currently under construction at the Underground Low Noise Laboratory (LSBB) in France. It consists of a network of atom interferometers with a baseline of 150 m allowing to measure simultaneously  the strain and inertial effects acting inside an optical cavity. First infrastructure based on quantum technologies, MIGA opens new perspectives for the detection of low-frequency gravitational waves but also Geosciences through the long-term measurement of space-time fluctuations of the Earth's gravity field.

The LP2N, which has played a central role in the development of the project since 2013, is looking for a research engineer expert in quantum physics in view of the opening of a permanent position in 2025. The recruited person will play a key role in the preparation and finalization of the antenna's instrumentation at LP2N as well as its on-site implementation at LSBB. In collaboration with the various laboratories participating in the realization of the experiment (SYRTE, LP2N, ARTEMIS, LSBB, LKB), the research engineer will play a central role in the installation and commissioning of the antenna but also in the realization and analysis of the experiments on site.

ACTIVITIES

The activities will cover the fields of optics, lasers and metrology:

• Finalize and characterize the MIGA instrumentation prior to installation, regarding cold atom sources, control systems and interrogation lasers.
• Implement and develop the LSBB experiment in collaboration with the various laboratories involved.
• Develop and analyze instrument protocols.
• Participate in the realization of measurements,  characterize their metrological quality, and ensure the accessibility of the acquired data.
• Present and disseminate the experimental results.

CONTEXT

The LP2N laboratory plays a central role in the realization of the MIGA experiment. In parallel with the coordination of the project since 2013, the LP2N is in charge of the realization of key subsystems of the antenna such as the vacuum chamber, the different control systems and the interrogation laser. The lab also coordinates the assembly and commissioning of the experiment in collaboration with the various laboratories involved. Within the cold atoms group of the LP2N, the MIGA team is also developing two exploratory experiments in order to test the antenna's instrumentation and prepare its operation: a cavity interferometry setup and a 6 m gradiometer, a scaled-down version of the device currently being built at LSBB.

The LSBB laboratory is a multidisciplinary research platform resulting from the reconversion of an underground command center of the military installations of the “plateau d’Albion”.  The laboratory has one of the lowest anthropogenic noise levels in the world, particularly for seismic and magnetic noise, to which atom interferometers are particularly sensitive. The laboratory is also located in the unsaturated zone of the “Fontaine de Vaucluse” aquifer, one of the largest underground aquifers in Europe, and therefore is an ideal site for the study of mass transfers in the subsoil. The laboratory is the installation site of the MIGA antenna: to date, 35 m of the vacuum system has been assembled and the first vacuum tests have been carried out. 

The recruited person will be integrated into the MIGA team of the LP2N cold atom group, currently composed of a researcher, a research engineer and 4 PhD students. The research engineer will work specifically at LP2N on the development of the instrumentation of the MIGA antenna and its on-site integration. The position will therefore include strong mobility with very regular trips to the LSBB and potentially periods of long-term missions on the same site.

EXPECTED SKILLS

Core competencies

• Physics and techniques related to laser interferometry and cold atoms
• Engineering techniques in optics, electronics, mechanics.
• Experience in science communication.

Other skills

• Instrumentation, metrology and high sensitivity measurements
• Vacuum techniques
• Experience in project management.
• Knowledge of domain-specific software (Linux, Matlab, Python).